All Inn One, Forest Hill, SE23

Official site of All Inn One - allinnone.org.uk

Official site of All Inn One - allinnone.org.uk

The All in One is a decent enough looking pub that is on the wrong side of the tracks. Once inside there is a decent sized room with the bar facing,the front area is bare boarded and has normal tables and chairs,the rear right area is carpeted and has normal tables and chairs plus one settee. There were four real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Brains SA which went down well,the other beers noted were Deuchars IPA,Gold Conquest and one from Charnwood brewery. The pub was fairly busy on my Saturday dinner visit,background music was playing. I found this to be a decent enough pub to have a drink in. Pub visited 14/5/2016

This is a former Bass Charrington pub that has been given the gentrification treatment and I would assume the name change from the Foresters was a part of that process. It consists of one large room with bare varnished floorboards and the usual assortment of tables, chairs and sofas. To the left of the bar are two doors marked Restaurant. On the bar there were six pumps one of which was unused, two of which had Deuchars IPA, then Doom Bore and Brains SA. If it hadn't been for an interesting beer on the final pump I would have walked out. This beer was Tiny Rebel Cwtch (£3.80) which turned out to be a tasty American style red ale. I wish I had looked at Whatpub before visiting as it claims that real ales are discounted to £3.00. As an 80p discount is quite substantial I'm not sure how accurate that information is. I wondered if I had caught it at a bad time for beer choice as I could hear noises from the cellar that may have meant that the unused pump was coming on. I wasn't overly impressed with this pub but the Tiny Rebel beer was very good and a CAMRA discount would make the high price more bearable.

Formerly known as the Foresters, this place has now been given an inexplicable new name that has always put me off visiting what turns out to be a smart station-side pub. You enter past one of several outdoor seating areas, into a spacious front room, opened out to a degree with an L shaped servery at the rear, extending further back on the right hand side. The room is bare boarded with smart tables and chairs filling the space between the front door and the bar. The table I chose had a dimpled pint glass full of fresh tulips on it, which looked quite nice, as did the large floral display at one end of the servery. The walls are covered with textured white wallpaper and a dado rail runs around the whole room. The ceiling has an interesting wooden lattice, around which runs some decorative cornicing and other original features. The room opens out to the right, where a simple seating area has been created in a carpeted space which lacks a bit of the character of the main bar. TV screens in both areas were showing the evening's FA Cup tie and around half the customers all got up and left as soon as the final whistle sounded. I could spy a lounge through a door to the left of the bar, but the lights appeared to be out, so I was unable to explore further. There seems to be plenty of things put on to keep customers entertained, with the live sports coverage, live music, a juke box, a collection of board games and books stacked on shelves and in the window sill. Rex will be pleased to hear that the latest edition of London Drinker was available from the bar counter. Four ales were being dispensed on my visit - regulars Brains SA and Deuchars IPA, plus a couple of guests in the shape of Cottage Old Hooker and King Poachers Moon, with Truman's Blindside not yet ready. I had a reasonable pint of the Poachers Moon, served to me by a friendly barman wearing a black, polo shirt branded with the pub's name. One or two other customers were eating, but as I arrived just after the kitchen closed, I missed the chance to look through the menu. I thought this was a well looked after pub that merits a look if you're passing through Forest Hill. It's certainly a good bet for a swift drink before catching a train from the neighbouring station and I'd be happy to return the next time I'm in the area.

This pub seems to have something of an identity crisis. In big bold lettering high up on the front wall it is proclaimed to be the “All Inn One”, while above the front window is the name “Foresters”. My guess is that Foresters is probably the original “real” name, while the All Inn One is a sort of re-branding name. Anyway, this is clearly another pub that has been made over to such an extent that all its original pub character has been removed. The exterior is a chocolaty brown colour, and the pub sign is a parody of what it must once have looked like. Most of the interior walls have been painted a dirty grey colour. As you enter, the front bar is bare-boarded and mainly furnished with red leather (or possibly fake leather) sofas with small, low tables. At the back on the right is a carpeted room with wooden tables, and chairs with no padding. The two rooms achieve a contrast. There is a cupboard of some sort by the window in the front of the pub, bearing a variety of magazines for visitors to read, but regrettably London Drinker did not feature among them. On the plus side, they did have three real ales on – Deuchars IPA; Adnam’s Yuletide; and Highgate Brewery Stocking Filler. I had a pint of the Stocking Filler, which was absolutely superb. This is not really the sort of pub I like, but they did have three ales on, and the one I had was excellent and at the wallet friendly price of £2.50 a pint. That’s a big plus.